After the latest confrontation between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, voices against the second administration of the controversial American leader have continued to rise.
People across the spectrum of opinion have been comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler for a while, especially on social media, where there’s a rule first articulated by American lawyer, author, and pioneering theorist of the internet meme, Michael Godwin
Godwin’s Law states: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.” Comparing someone to a villain who must be on everyone’s short list of history’s worst is cheap and easy, even and especially when it is earnest.
It’s not that people don’t have good reason to criticize the American president, it’s that the comparison doesn’t really work rhetorically. All analogies limp, but if a fellow isn’t an actual Nazi, comparing him to the evil Nazis’ evil leader just isn’t going to win hearts and minds (though it may score points with folks who already agree).
In any case, there is another historical German leader who may be a better fit for Trump. The comparison is likely to draw complaints from both supporters and opponents of Trump—probably justified—but the German I’m thinking of is Wilhelm II, the last ruler of the German Empire.
Wilhelm took over after the really short reign of his father, Friedrich III, in 1888, the “Year of the Three Emperors.” The first emperor was Wilhem I, the King of Prussia who founded the German Empire in 1871, succeeded by Friedrich, who reigned just shy of 100 days, and then Wilhelm II, who was not yet 30 when he came to rule.
In his first 18 months, the young Wilhelm fired Germany’s longtime Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, gaining the approval of Germany’s large Catholic community. Bismark had organized the Kulturkampf in the 1870s, which pitted the German state against the nation’s sizeable Catholic minority.
But in doing so, he solidified control of the country by the crown and removed much of the power of the parliament. The emperor’s “New Course” was aimed at making Germany a recognized World Power, despite the fact it had recently won wars against both the Austrian and French empires, and was considered the most powerful nation on the continent.
His slogan – yes, monarchs in the 19th century had slogans – was “Giving Germany a Place in the Sun.” It is not unreasonable for an observer to hear echoes of that in Trump’s “Make America Great Again” catchphrase.
Trump has likewise used executive power in ways that have pleased culturally conservative —mostly Mass-going — Catholics, and has challenged both the legislative and the judicial powers.
Wilhelm was self-conscious of his withered left arm, which developed in childhood and limited his physical activity. Many historians have attributed to Wilhelm’s condition his obsession with leading his already powerful empire into greater glory.
The German leader put his eyes on territories that were historically German speaking, as well as wanting to expand his empire overseas, to match his British, French, and Spanish neighbors.
Although Trump doesn’t have a damaged arm, his very public career in business and entertainment has often led to him being mocked in newsrooms and comedy shows.
In his second term as president, Trump often speaks about his interest in the Panama Canal, which was given back to Panama in 1999, Danish-owned Greenland, and even Canada. Although many have dismissed these calls for expansion as so much jingoistic bravado, others remember how “54° 40′ or Fight!” was a campaign rallying cry during the U.S. election of 1844.
Some commentators – both supporters and opponents – say Trump would love to see himself placed on Mount Rushmore.
Both Wilhelm and Trump have appealed to the Catholics in their country. Both did things early to appease a population where many members seemed hurt by the previous regime: Wilhelm through his dismissal of Bismarck and Trump by his pro-life executive orders (although the increase in funding of IVF treatments has hurt him on this issue).
Wilhelm even gave the Holy See a full state visit the year he became emperor, a controversial move by a Protestant leader when the pope was a “prisoner in the Vatican” after the Italian government ended the remnants of the Papal States in 1870. (His style of visit was an embarrassment for both the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, since it put unwanted strain on their relations.)
In some ways, Trump’s latest dispute with Zelensky is similarly uncomfortable.
Trump has been criticized for how he and his cabinet attacked the Ukrainian president during his visit to the White House last week, but the U.S. president’s call for a negotiated peace with Russia aligns fairly closely with Pope Francis’s own position.
Trump’s position echoes the very words of Pope Francis, who almost exactly a year ago said, “The strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates.”
Wilhelm may be a gentler German figure to use as an example if one wants to oppose Trump, but it is worth considering, as well, how Wilhelm’s reign — and the empire he ruled — both came to an end after he brought his country and the world into a cataclysmic war, which his country lost.
Follow Charles Collins on X: @CharlesinRome
